Given the success that similar tech delegations have had in places like Iraq and Mexico, Russia seems like an appropriate next stop. Given that Russia could soon be one of the first countries to be able to type Internet addresses in its own language and not in Latin script, we should expect more and more Russians to come online in the next five years, adopting social media and online entrepreneurship as they go. Seems as good a time as any to initiate digital cooperation and collaboration between our two nations. It’s also good for those of us who are taking bets on how long it takes Ashton to gain 5 million followers on Twitter; let’s see what he can do by the end of this trip!

(Disclosure: Hill & Knowlton works with ICANN in various locations around the world.)